Observations of a Father
by takaondo
Summary: Isshin was drunk, but he wasn't unconscious. Laying there on the couch, he muses on as he continues to observe the interactions of his only son and his third daughter. One-Shot, IchiRuki


A/N: I don't own BLEACH!

This is a present for my readers of **_BLEACH: AFTERMATH_** for hitting nearly 100k worth of views. This story is mostly a random one, just conjured up for a one shot. The point of view is from third person Isshin, but it switches to first person sometimes. Anyways, it's a new type of writing format for me, so I hope I did a decent job. All IchiRuki is implied, and should be sweet and fluffy.

Watch for any errors that I may have.

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**_Observations of a Father_**

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A door opens, revealing soft moonlight into a house of nothing but darkness. Two figures walked in after one another, the second seemingly carrying something large on his shoulder by the looks of his shadow.

"Rukia, hurry up and turn on the lights!"

There were sounds of shuffling around.

"I'm trying to find it! I thought it was over here somewhere – ow!"

There was some angry mumbling as a small object on the floor was kicked away. As the light was turned on, Ichigo and Rukia stood in the middle of the living room with annoyed expressions, the former holding his unconscious father over his shoulders.

"Well, the house is a total mess." Rukia said with a sigh. More shuffling was heard. "Aren't you going to take him to his room?"

Isshin grunted as he was thrown roughly onto one of the couches.

"He'll be fine here." Ichigo replied in annoyance. "He drank a lot and I don't want him to throw up all over the bed – it's my turn to do the laundry this week."

There was a slight pause as more sounds of trash were being shifted around.

"Karin and Yuzu are sleeping over at friends because I didn't want to keep them up, so we have to clean this place up ourselves." Ichigo said as he shifted some things around. "I shouldn't have let this get out of hand."

"Well, it wasn't your idea in the first place." Rukia chirped. "And your father made it worse by dragging us to that bar."

Isshin slowly peeked open an eye as he heard both of them leave for the kitchen. Though he had drunk a lot, he couldn't really stay asleep with the constant noise that those two produced. He thought it was funny the way they acted towards one another, it seemed so different when they were alone.

"Rukia, help me clean the dishes." Ichigo's voice rang as he turned on the water faucet.

"I didn't hear a please." Rukia replied.

"Rukia, _please_ help me clean the dishes." Ichigo continued with annoyance.

"That's Rukia-sama to you." Rukia continued, her voice rising superiorly.

Isshin could only imagine the look on Ichigo's face that moment.

"So, repeat that request-" Rukia's statement was stopped abruptly. "Don't you dare!"

Isshin's eyebrow rose curiously as he heard a jet of water being sprayed and Rukia's shriek right afterwards.

"Ichigo!" Rukia's voice was loud and angry. "Don't-"

Isshin couldn't help but chuckle as he heard her shriek again.

"ICHIGO!"

"Rukia-sama, please help me with the dishes." Ichigo said humorously.

There was a loud smacking sound, and then a large thud resounded from the kitchen. Isshin knew what had happened; it seemed Rukia had got her retribution. Ichigo was probably lying on the floor in pain that moment.

"Ugh…"

As to confirm it, there were several angry grumbling noises coming from his son. However, a few moments later, only the sounds of scrubbing and running water filled his senses. It seemed that both of them had quieted down.

"So, what did you think of the party?" Ichigo asked.

"It was fun, meeting up and celebrating with everyone." Rukia replied. "It was great at the bar too - until you decided to punch Keigo. We almost got kicked out of the place."

There was a pause of silence as scrubbing and running water once again shifted to the foreground.

"Why did you punch him anyways?" Rukia asked.

There was a clanging sound, as if something dropped in the kitchen.

"I thought he was putting an arm around… well… never mind…" Ichigo replied awkwardly.

Isshin smirked, knowing his boy had become flustered by her question. He seemed to have even dropped his dish in surprise. It seemed that there was much more training left for him to teach his son. He had to admit though, his over protectiveness made him proud.

"Inoue also asked you to dance with her, but you refused. Why?" Rukia asked curiously.

Why indeed, Isshin didn't understand. It seemed Ichigo was not interested at all with that beauty. But then again, he's never known the boy to be interested in girls regardless. It seemed he was just different in that way.

"I didn't feel like dancing." Ichigo replied simply.

"Then why did you dance with me?" Rukia continued with her barrage of questions.

Ichigo cleared his throat as the sound of water running stopped.

"Because… well… because I wanted to…"

Isshin cursed at himself for missing out such an event. He must have been down and out by the time that had happened.

"Why are you asking some many things, Rukia?" Ichigo followed up quickly, as if he was trying to cover his last response. Isshin could their foot steps coming back into the living room.

"Well…" The foot steps stopped. "I was kind of worried, because you didn't seem very happy today."

Rukia's voice had become soft.

"So I thought I was burdening you with my return."

There were sounds of trash being picked up.

"Idiot." Ichigo started, as more shuffling sounds were heard. "Everyone wanted to have a party to welcome you back. Everyone was happy to see you."

"But it's not them I'm asking about, Ichigo." Rukia continued. "It's you I'm asking."

The sounds of moving garbage stopped.

"You're not a burden at all Rukia…" Ichigo replied softly.

"Then why did you seem so discontent?" Rukia followed up.

"I guess… well… I wanted to spend time with you…"

Isshin could almost feel himself giggle as he imagined his son's face.

"Just… just the two of us…"

Bingo! Jackpot! Isshin had to force all his willpower not to jump up and glomp his son.

"Oh…" Rukia's voice was quiet, but it was a response of realization.

There was another pause of silence. Isshin wondered if they were trying to avoid eye contact that moment.

"Well, we have time now." Rukia softly broke the silence. Isshin carefully opened an eye, surprised to see a gentle smile on her face. "Just for the two of us."

Isshin slowly turned to Ichigo, even more surprised to see a genuine smile coming from his face. It was an expression he had never seen from his son before – not since Masaki had died.

"After we clean up the trash, we'll watch a movie." Ichigo said as the sounds started up again.

"What about your father?" Rukia inquired.

"He's a heavy sleeper, won't even notice us." Ichigo said gruffly.

Oh how wrong he was. Isshin smiled inwardly at his son's naivety.

Soon enough, Isshin heard the other couch squeak as the two sat down into it. Because of how quiet the movie was, and the relative relaxed state he was in, Isshin started to fall asleep. Before he fell asleep though, he caught a few more sentences exchanged between the two.

"Rukia…" Ichigo's voice was rough.

"Hm?"

"I missed you… I'm happy you're back…" He finished, his voice hard but gentle.

"Well…" Rukia started, her voice soft and cheerful. "I'm happy to be back…"

With that, Isshin drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face.

Isshin's eyes slowly opened later that evening, his hand rising to his eyes as he slowly sat up. As he cleared his eyes, they became slightly wide at the scene before him.

"I hope you're seeing this, Masaki." Isshin said with a smile.

Rukia laid against Ichigo's chest, his head laying over hers. Both of his arms were held out behind the couch, but one of them had unceremoniously fallen onto Rukia's shoulder. With such a scene before him, Isshin couldn't help but feel extremely heartfelt. It seemed that they both had fallen asleep against one another.

Isshin knew that a moment like this would rarely happen, and such a moment was not to be spoiled.

But since the camera were just behind him on the cabinet…

He just couldn't resist.

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Fin. I hope everyone liked it.


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